She is looking forward to Travels though. "Because I just have to do this Fox movie, and it's fine and I'm gonna have fun. The whole beginning of the year has been rather dramatic, so I'd just rather go in with fresh eyes and know that I've made the right decision. You just don't know until it's all finished..."

Premiering on Broadway in 1955 --The award winner, tells the tale of Joe Boyd, a happily married middle-aged man whose devotion to a hapless pro baseball team prompts him to make a Faustian bargain with the devil to help the team. He's transformed into slugger Joe Hardy, in exchange for Boyd's soul. Boyd can break the deal, but the deadline occurs during the World Series. For good measure, the devil engages Lola, a gorgeous lost soul, to seduce the slugger and seal his fate.

Chris Weitz is doing the first sequel "New Moon", but the studio opting for Barrymore is likely so that the production can stick to the rapid make then release schedule it's planned.

Barrymore just completed production on her feature film directorial debut "Whip It!".

While no one has seen Whip It! yet--the Charlie's Angels star has been around the industry all of her life...I actually think she would make a great fit for the saga. There's no real reason to back me up--My gut says she would do well calling the shots...

"New Moon" is scheduled to open November 20th 2009 while "Eclipse" will hit on June 30th 2010.

More people are going to the movies despite the bad economy -- or because of it.

Domestic theater admissions were up an unheard of 9.3% in January and February, usually one of the slowest times of the year.

In North America, revenues are up 13% for the first two months of 2009, clocking in at $1.62 billion through Tuesday, according to Rentrak.

Admissions also are on the rise overseas. However, the vagaries of currency exchange, including a stronger dollar, are hurting Hollywood.

The six major studios have seen a decline of more than 10% in revenues from foreign markets for the first two months of the year.

The value of the euro is off 20% compared with a year ago and the British pound has declined more than 35%. But, overall, international moviegoing remains decent in terms of local admissions and currency compared with a year ago.

Back home, admissions are often down even when revenues are up, thanks to increased ticket prices. This year's spike in actual foot traffic bucks that trend.

This weekend, observers will be watching to see if Disney's new entry "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" continues the box office boom.

That boom has seen several notable films beating expectations and racking up sizeable grosses. Last weekend, Lionsgate's "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" opened to $41 million, the best bow of any Perry pic, as well as any Lionsgate release.

Helms would play a civil war re-enacter, someone who is obsessed about historical precision. He and three other guys (two fellow re-enacters and an African-American professor of history who is protesting the event) are accidentally transported back in time and awaken in the actual civil war.

Once there, they have find there way home without altering history or permanently breaking America in half.

High School Musical stud Zac Efron has been named ShoWestBreakthrough Performer of the Year-2009 and he will be presented with the honor at the Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 2, in Las Vegas.

The announcement was made by Mitch Neuhauser, co-managing director of the event, through the press release on Thursday, February 26.

"When Zac Efron made his debut, with the cast of 'Hairspray' at ShoWest 2007, many in attendance took notice of this young actor's incredible talent," Neuhauser says explaining the honor for the 21-year-old.

"His undeniable onscreen presence and charm have connected with fans around the world, and with the impending release of the comedy '17 Again', Zac Efron is poised to break out as a true Hollywood star."

The story has turned into a "Gladiator"-like version of the legend that stays close to historical facts of the period.

Abandoned as a child, Robin of Loxley (Crowe) finds community with the common people of Nottingham. Robin's abandonment and trust issues hamper his ability to fall in love. He meets his match in Marian, a strong, independent woman.

Sienna Miller was previously attached to the role but exited late last year. Tabloid reports suggested it was due to the age and physical figure difference with Crowe.

Those reports are moot since Crowe has been working out hard for months and has slimmed down for the role...

Besides Blanchett is a better pick anyway.... Whoo-hoo!!!

Production begins in early April in the UK with Scott and Brian Grazer producing.

The story follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.

Neal H. Moritz is producing this new incarnation of the crime fighter from 30's radio and 60's TV.

Moritz: “We’re huge fans of Michel Gondry. ’Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and all his films are as daring as they are extraordinary, fueled by creative ideas that spring from his unique worldview. Our first rule, always, is to make the movie that we want to see, and that couldn’t be truer than with Michel bringing his stylish and original touch to the helm"

True, but his Be Kind Rewind is genius stuff...GH has great potential with Gondry in the big chair...

"I don't know, I mean, she's got some other obligations and we're just trying to figure that out. I think we're looking at, like, what I would consider a lot of great, really great girls. Because it's all girls so it's like, yeah".

Like I said I'm there already...Seyfried is building quite the eclectic film resume

The R-rated flick is described as "an Alice in Wonderland with machine guns," begins pre-production this June in Canada

The high-profile project centers on a CIA officer named Salt (Jolie) who is pinned as a Russian sleeper spy set out to assassinate the president. She sets out to prove that someone else is the traitor.

Ejiofor will play Peabody, a CIA counterintelligence officer. Schreiber is playing Salt's boss and friend on the CIA's Russian desk.

Ejiofor makes a cool addition--loved him in Serenity as the bad guy...

Based on Valerie Plame -Wilson's book, the real life drama follows she (Naomi Watts) and her husband Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson (Penn) who watched her CIA status at the center of controversy after he wrote op-ed columns that accused the Bush Administration of manipulating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Plame Wilson left the CIA in 2005 and she and her husband filed a civil suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Cheney's ex-chief of staff, Lewis Libby who was eventually convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about his role in compromising her covert status.

Libby's 30-month sentence was commuted, but Bush stopped short of granting him a full pardon.

With a 23.3 HH rating/35 share, the ceremony was up 6% from last year's performance which was ranked as the lowest ever.

An ABC analyst adds that they expect the total viewership to be about 6-10% higher than last year in the nationals.

OK The ratings were up--but not by all that much considering they hit a record low only a year ago...I will bet the prospect of Bradgelina and Jennifer Aniston fireworks brought a few folks in to have a look as well as those rooting for Heath Ledger to win...

Monday, February 23, 2009

Slashfilm found a password protected page on the official Legendary Pictures website that lists 'Superman Unleashed' as the working title of one of their upcoming films in development and calls it "a sequel to ‘Superman Returns" rather than a restart...

Why can't anyone make a decision about Supes' big screen future and stick to it?

I don't know about you--but I am sick of this back and forth--Decision time is NOW

The original '"Battlestar"' aired in 1978 and involved a human civilization living on a series of twelve planets that are decimated from an attack by intelligent robots known as Cylons. The survivors are led by a starship called Galactica in their attempt to find a mythic 13th planet named Earth.

MTV says that from now the films will be known as The Twilight Saga with a subtitle....The upcoming sequel is now called"The Twilight Saga’s New Moon.".

With a November 20th release, the sequel follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Bella soon finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, with her loyalties being tested.

"It should be an unknown. Conan is kind of iconic. It’s kind of like when you do Superman. It’s difficult to fill those shoes but they came up with a new Batman, they came up with a new James Bond, you know"

The Dark Knight crossed the $1 billion dollar mark in worldwide box office receipts--only the fourth film ever to do so reports Variety.

Warner Bros. confirmed that as of Friday afternoon, the combined domestic and international gross had totaled $1,001,082,160 to date - around $533 million domestically and $567 million overseas. Grosses from Ecuador and the IMAX re-release helped nudge the film over the mark which it was $4 million shy of in December.

Host Hugh Jackman tried really hard and despite all of the format changes (IE 5 past acting winners handling one nominee in the acting categories, more musical numbers Presenters handling multiple categories) the show still ran way too long (almost 3 and a half hours)

Best Acceptance Speech Heath Ledger's Family accepting on his behalf the Best Supporting Actor award for The Dark Knight Very emotional moment...

Contrast that with Sean Penn trying to sound humble while grandstanding as he won Best Actor His line "I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me." is very true though...Mickey Rourke or Frank Langella should have won...

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" took in $41.1 million, giving Lionsgate its biggest opening weekend during a time of instability for the company.

The Tyler Perry bow far surpassed the previous Lionsgate high of $33.6 million on "Saw III" in 2006. Perry and Lionsgate have been a potent combo, with the multihyphenate's seven pics grossing $300 million to date at the domestic B.O.

Overall B.O. continued its remarkable hot streak, gaining about 30% thanks to strong carryover frames for "Taken" and "Coraline," which finished No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. "Madea's" per-screen average of $20,236 was the highest for any pic since last November's "Twilight" phenom.

The "Madea" numbers, coupled with January low-budget 3-D release "Bloody Valentine" hitting $50 million, gave Lionsgate a positive finish to a bumpy February.

The company reported a quarterly loss, badly missing Wall Street estimates, and also announced significant cuts in production spending and release output for fiscal 2010. As its stock price spiraled downward, activist investor Carl Icahn upped his stake in the company by scooping up bargain-priced shares.

"To have the second biggest hit of the year after less than two months is really a good feeling," said distrib chief Steve Rothenberg.

They are looking for someone 6-foot or taller in his mid-late 20's.-who must be "Physically powerful, very handsome, occasionally egotistical, petulant, and wild. A natural warrior with a quick charming wit who must be genuinely and severely humbled before becoming the compassionate, mature hero of our film."